and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Parallel translations
- WEB and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- KJV And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
- NKJV And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- NASB and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
- NLT and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Everything is theirs because they are wholly the Lord's.
Overview
Paul climaxes his argument with a chain of belonging: all things are the believers', they are Christ's, and Christ is God's. This roots Christian privilege in submission, possessing all things precisely by belonging to Christ. The verse exalts Christ's headship over His people and His perfect unity with the Father, the true foundation for unity and humility in the church.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Gal 3:29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
- John 17:18As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world.
- 1 Cor 15:23But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
- 1 Cor 11:3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- John 17:9–10I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.
- 2 Cor 10:7You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.
- John 17:21that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
- Rom 14:8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
- Gal 5:24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- 1 Cor 8:6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
- 1 Cor 6:19–20Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- Phil 2:8–11And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
- 1 Cor 7:22For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
- Matt 17:5While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
- Eph 1:10as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 3:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.